Our Names
by Reckless150681
Summary: "They twist, tangle, sometimes unravel, break, then connect again…" Taki and Mitsuha have encountered each other again, eight years after the comet impact at Itomori. They both recognize each other from somewhere, but neither can really place it. Will their extraordinary experiences go forever forgotten? Please read Author's notes first.
1. Taki

**1\. Taki**

"Your name is…?"

I felt my breath catch and my pulse quicken. In front of me, this stranger's eyes widened slightly. There was something about the way we said that at the same time that filled me with anxiety and impatience. It felt...familiar. Warm. Tantalizing. Electrifying. Some instinct in me was throwing off all kinds of red flags, informing me of something big about to happen. I cleared my throat.

"My name is-" we started at the same time, then stopped ourselves and giggled lamely. Even that sort of childish behavior was enough to set my brain on overdrive. For some reason, my mind jumped to another place; I caught a glimpse of a ridgeline and a vibrant twilight before the moment passed.

"Oh, excuse me, why don't you go first." Ladies first, after all. I made a vague gesture in the woman's direction, throwing a halfhearted smile her way.

"Oh, um, thank you." I saw the moisture in her eyes as she looked away, trying to hide a smile. For some reason, I was crying, too, inexplicably feeling unashamed as I took no efforts to clear my sight. Somehow, just the simple act of meeting this woman was enough to set my heart aflame, easily eliciting my own tears.

"My name is Mitsuha."

 _...Mitsuha..._

Her name echoed in my head. I could almost feel the word physically bouncing around in there. What was happening?

 _...Mitsuha..._

What is this? What is this feeling? This feeling of love, of heartbreak...of fulfillment…of desperation...

 _...Mitsuha..._

I know this name! This name is special to me! ...But where? How? Who is Mitsuha? Why do I know this name?

 _...Mitsuha..._

My thoughts unwittingly turned to Itomori and that comet. Was there some connection? Was this woman related to my mad trip throughout Japan's countryside?

 _Mitsuha..._

Images started flashing before my eyes. A bottle of sake. A shrine. A stone overhang. A crater. A high school. A country road. A house...

Mitsuha…

I know this place. It's Itomori before the comet strike - that much I knew through my poring through books and articles of the event, but somehow...it feels intimate to me. Like I've been there. Like I've lived there. It's a beautiful place - a place so gorgeous I might have dreamed it once-

Mitsuha!

My eyes widened. Dream? It all started...with a dream!

Mitsuha!

It was as if an electric shock passed through my body. Memories rose out of the murky, scattered void of the forgotten and reformed, filling the gaps in my past.

Mitsuha!

It was as if discovering a new color, not realizing that its beauty had always shone upon the gray world around me. I felt my heart soaring as the images returned with rushes of emotion. I remembered the devastation at seeing the crater where Itomori had been, the desperation of trying to save the town, and-

Mitsuha!

I felt the strength in my knees give way as I gripped the railing, slowly sliding to the ground.

Mitsuha!

I remembered...her. I told her we'd write each other's names on our palms to not forget, but instead I wrote "I love you".

Mitsuha!

She never even got the chance to write her own name. ...Her name? Yes, that's right. Her name was-

Mitsuha!

I put my head in my hands and began to sob uncontrollably, allowing the relief and sheer joy to purge my soul and body of the emptiness I had carried around for so long.

Mitsuha...how could I have forgotten you? I demanded of her, of myself, and of the world. The girl I "met", who started off so annoying, yet became the one star of my life - my one true love.

"Eh? Are you okay?!" I barely registered her voice, for a moment unable to even recognize the sounds as words. I was too overwhelmed by my present elation and my remembered grief, by the realization that my time alone was over.

"Are you okay?!" This time, I heard the alarm and worry, and silently reprimanded myself for breaking down and crying in the middle of the street. I looked up and was startled to see her face so close to mine. Evidently, she had knelt down to see if I needed help.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I waved her off. "It's just that…"

Did she remember? Would she remember? What we did together? Who I was? ...Who I am?

"I remember now."

"U-Um...I'm sorry?" Ah… The slightly puzzled face. The confused words. They pierced my heart and split it in two. Was it...was it impossible? Did her change of fate - my interference - remove me from her life?

I couldn't bear it, but if that were true, then I couldn't let my burdens fall to this woman - to Mitsuha, I angrily corrected myself. Even if she didn't remember, she's still technically the same person.

I resigned myself and decided to make an introduction. "Mitsuha...my name is Taki."

"Oh…!" What…?! Her eyes went wide! I almost reached out to her, but stopped myself in time with great mental difficulty, forcing my eyes to the ground. To her, I'm a stranger. I shouldn't be touching her without her permission. I didn't want to come off as some pervert or anything, but…

"Ta...ki...kun?"

What? What did you say?

"Taki...kun?" I looked up at her to see her trembling hand reaching towards my cheek. Her eyes were brimming with tears, but she made no effort to wipe them away.

"I...I remember…"

I felt my heart fill and expand and took a sharp inhale of breath, even as my mental faculties effectively overheated and malfunctioned. I blinked, and somehow found Mitsuha in my embrace, her hand gripping mine in a firm, unrelenting clamp.

I took a moment to gather my scattered thoughts. "Mitsuha…" What do I say? What do I do? What do we do?

In that split second, I decided to ask the obvious. "You remember? Everything? Switching places, the comet...everything?"

The time following the end of my question seemed to extend into eternity. What would her answer be? For a moment, I felt another sting of trepidation. Perhaps I misunderstood. Perhaps she was remembering something else, and-

A nod.

I closed my eyes and let out a labored sigh, feeling anxiety I never realized I was carrying wash out from me. When I opened them again, it took my entire being not to gasp. I found myself held captive by Mitsuha's gaze. Her eyes glimmered with a light so beautiful that all I could do was smile. I reached out and wiped her tears away, and felt my heart rate kick up a notch as she reciprocated the motion.

"Heh...we must look pretty weird, Mitsuha. Crying together in the middle of the stairs and all." None of my usual bravado. With Mitsuha I felt like I could be myself.

"Hmph...it's your fault I'm like this," she grumbled, proceeding to elbow me in the ribs none too lightly.

"Ow! Hey, how was I supposed to know you were dead?" Seriously. That never would have occurred to me naturally. Even saying it just sounded bizarre.

" _Baka_. Not that. You should have written your name on my palm." The way she pouted put me so off guard that I suddenly found rubbing the back of my head really interesting. Besides, she wasn't wrong; I probably could have saved both of us five years of heartbreak.

"Oh...right...sorry," I muttered, looking away.

"Pft...hehe…" Oh, what, so you're _laughing_ now?

"Ha...hahaha…" Damn, _I'm_ laughing now?!

The two of us broke into helpless peals of laughter, Mitsuha putting her face into my chest. It felt like our moment on top of the crater - during _kataware doki_ \- only without the creeping urgency of trying to save Mitsuha's future. My arms naturally found their way around her waist, and we stood like that for a long while, feeling the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the wind. I wanted nothing more than to stay like this forever.

Except…

There was one thing that was stolen from us both. A signature of love. Even as I had the thought, I looked down at my beautiful partner. She was still calming herself after our hysterics.

"Hehehe…" She opened her eyes and looked up. My self-discipline disappeared right there.

"Hm? Taki-kun? What are you doing?" I couldn't say anything. Not while looking into those eyes. I put one hand around her neck and started pulling her close. Her mouth fell open a little, drawing my focus. Her lips...so soft. So...inviting. She closed her eyes. I followed suit. There was only one direction from here. Just a little closer. A...little…

I don't remember what happened. Not exactly. All I know is that my mind went white, and my heart soared to new heights. I only recall my vision having to clear afterwards and breathing hard, looking right into her eyes and trying to remember their every detail.

Eventually, I found the strength to speak. "Hah...five years overdue." I tried to keep it a little light, but the reality of the statement pained me a little.

Mitsuha headbutted me lightly from her position on my shoulder. " _Eight_ years for me."

 _Shoot_. That's right. It may have been five years for me, but Mitsuha's experiences happened three years in my past. She's been waiting for me longer than I have been for her. It was such a strange thought that I wasn't able to stop my next statement.

"How...old are you, Mitsuha?" Damn. Damn it, Taki! Not something you ask a woman! "I'm sorry. I mean-"

"No, I get it." Mitsuha interrupted my apology. I guess she was thinking along similar lines. "I'm 25."

...Huh? "You're older than me."

"Hm? Yes, I suppose I am. Is that weird?"

Is it? I dunno. In my experiences with Mitsuha, I always saw her as younger than me - _maybe_ around the same age. Though, I suppose her being around my age three years before me would make her older than me.

"Care to repeat that?"

Hm? Did I accidentally say that out loud in my dumbfounded state? I must have; Mitsuha's laughing at me now.

"Ah, it's not important. You're here now. Time, distance, and death could not keep us apart." No. Grandma Miyamizu was right; _musubi_ will always keep us connected.

"Mm. Never leave me again."

Of course. I held her even closer. "Never."

I held her like that for an hour. Or was it a minute? I'm not too sure. All I know that it was too short. Before long, her phone buzzed, begging her attention. She swore and disentangled from me.

"Damn. Excuse me, Taki-kun." She took her phone out of her dress pocket, checked it, and swore again.

"Damn. I'm sorry, Taki-kun, I have a meeting I need to go to."

Life calls. I nodded glumly in response. I guess now was a good time, if any; I also had obligations today, though I'd gladly forget them at the drop of a hat.

"I understand. I actually have a job interview in-" I checked my watch "-half an hour."

I stood there and lost myself in her eyes again, before we had to return to being functional adults. The thought of Mitsuha being a professional woman was a little startling; it reminded me of the time we lost, and now I found myself reluctant to let her go.

"U-Um...may I have your contact information?" she asked, still holding my hands and looking right at me.

Some of my teasing intentions returned, and I couldn't stop a playful smile from spreading across my face. "I gave it to you eight years ago. You mean you don't have it?"

I got a slap for that, but it doesn't really work if you're smiling, Mitsuha. " _Baka_. Just give it to me."

I laughed and gave in. "Yeah, yeah. Here." We exchanged phones, entering in our contact information. It felt so much like it did when we were swapping bodies that I felt a wave a nostalgia hit me.

" _Arigatou_." Mitsuha held my phone out. I returned hers, linking fingers with her as we walked towards the station together. At the concourse, I turned towards her.

"I suppose this is where we split."

"Mm," was all she had to say, but I didn't mind. After all, there isn't any need to say anything when there isn't anything to say.

"Tomorrow at seven?" Despite normally having cold feet when asking girls out to dinner, I had no such qualms with Mitsuha. I felt like though we've only technically met once, we're able to communicate directly with each other - from heart to heart. She understood what I was asking even though I didn't finish the question.

"Of course. Where?"

"The restaurant?" Again, I didn't have to specify which. It's a bit on the expensive side, but that restaurant is a special place for the two of us. It's also close to a great café we can go to afterwards, and I remember how much Mitsuha loves her cafés.

"Sounds good! Are you paying?" Er...I hope I can afford it. Right now, I'm worse than a broke college student; I'm a broke graduate.

"Eh...I'll see if I can get Miki-san to pull some strings…" I hope so. She's still pretty close with management; besides, Mitsuha made me pretty popular among the waiting staff.

"Hehe…It's a date, Taki-kun." The smile she gave me was so brilliant, so radiant that it blocked out all other sights. My vision tunnelled and all I could see was her face, and the future that the two of us would explore together. I looked up and smiled back, taking her hand in mine.

"It is, Mitsuha." Without breaking eye contact, I bowed and kissed her hand. It's a little cheesy, perhaps, and maybe old-fashioned, but it felt right. I finally tore myself away from her, heading towards my end of the station. I could feel her eyes on me even as I turned the corner, and I caught a glimpse of her waving before stepping onto the platform. As the train arrived and I squeezed into the car, I caught a small puff of her perfume, having clinged to my fingers through our contact together.

For the last five years, I've been looking for something. Something special, something personal - something forgotten. It had something to do with Japan's countryside; that much was clear to me, and the stories of Itomori's destruction drove my career into architecture and disaster prevention. I spent these last five years carrying a feeling of loss and emptiness.

"No more," I whispered to myself. My fingers tingled with the phantom impression of Mitsuha's delicate grip even as I caught her scent yet again, and I held that hand close to my heart. My time spent searching was finally over.

"Mitsuha…" This whole time…

 _I was searching for you!_


	2. Mitsuha

**2\. Mitsuha**

"Your name is…?"

My heart almost stopped as my eyes widened. In front of me, this strange yet familiar man took a sharp intake of breath. There was an electricity in the air between us - some sort of everlasting bond that was tenacious yet unexplainable, the muted compassion driving me to tears of a yet unknown joy.

I took a breath.

"My name is-" we started at the same time. I couldn't help it. I started laughing at the slightly absurd scenario. The man in front of me followed suit. Somehow, it felt familiar. Reassuring, even, like I could trust him.

"Oh, excuse me, why don't you go first." He gave me a lopsided half-smile and gestured vaguely in my direction.

A gentleman, I thought. I looked away to try and hide a smile, barely registering the tears on my face.

"My name is Mitsuha."

Somehow, I took comfort in saying those words. It felt...assuring. Relaxing, even. Like a tension I never knew I was carrying around had melted away. This man standing in front of me was agonizingly familiar, yet I could not rack my brain for where we had met before. For some reason, my grandmother's words from when we still lived in Itomori floated up through my consciousness:

" _...Connecting people is_ musubi _...the flow of time is_ musubi _. The braided cords we make...represent the flow of time itself. They converge and take shape. They twist, tangle, sometimes unravel, break, then connect again…_ "

Connections, huh? What did she mean, "represent the flow of time itself?" Did we meet...in another life? The stranger certainly felt important to me in some way, but that was less of a substantive statement and more of...a dream, I guess-

"Eh? Are you okay?!"

It took me just a second or two to process all that after saying my name, but when I turned my attention back to the present I saw the man clutching the railing and sobbing on the ground.

"Are you okay?!" I repeated, kneeling down.

He waved me away. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just that...I remember now."

Eh?

"U-Um...I'm sorry?" Remember? Remember what? I started to feel a little uneasy, wondering if there was something wrong with this man. I mean, I couldn't blame him too much. The inability to remember is one of the worst feelings in the world. It leaves you with persistent aching hole that you can't quite fill. I know. There once was somebody special to me. Somebody who wrote "I love you" on my hand eight years ago. I wish I knew who it was, but to my eternal regret I have no idea who wrote it. Nobody seemed to know, either. That is, except Grandma. She was strangely sage about it, though, telling me the time would come for me to meet him again; I have a feeling there was something she wasn't telling me, though she would always avoid the question when asked directly. I sighed inwardly as I awkwardly tried to comfort the man crying in the middle of the staircase. I wonder what it was he rememb-

"Mitsuha...my name is Taki."

"Oh…!" That statement rolled over me with a staggering power, bringing up memories - memories forgotten by the will of the universe.

They twist, tangle, sometimes unravel, break, then connect again…

Grandma's words came to me again.

 _...connect again..._

...I understand, Grandma. And more importantly...

 _I remember._

"Ta...ki...kun?"

My voice cracked as I watched my hand reach out to his cheek through tear-blurred eyes. He looked up at me as I repeated his name.

"Taki...kun? I...I remember…"

A sharp intake of breath. In one fluid motion, he stood, taking my outstretched hand in his and pulling me close.

"Mitsuha...you remember? Everything? Switching places, the comet...everything?"

I nodded silently, too focused on his eyes to say anything. Taki-kun let out an agonized sigh, squeezing his eyes shut. When he opened them, I let out a little gasp. They sparkled and shone like the night sky, more brilliantly than the sun, than the comet, than anything I'd seen before.

He smiled at me, gently wiping the tears off my face. I mirrored the motion, feeling my heart pounding out of my chest.

"Heh...we must look pretty weird, Mitsuha. Crying together in the middle of the stairs and all."

"Hmph…it's your fault I'm like this." I dug my elbow into his ribs - perhaps a little harder than I meant to.

"Ow! Hey, how was I supposed to know you were dead?" That question was asked so bizarrely and bluntly I didn't even process it, dismissing it immediately.

" _Baka_. Not that. You should have written your name on my palm." I pouted intentionally, waiting for Taki-kun to take the hint.

"Oh...right...sorry." The way he bashfully rubbed the back of his head was endearing enough that I dropped my façade.

"Pft...hehe…"

"Ha...hahaha…"

The two of us broke out laughing, me burying my face in Taki-kun's chest and him holding me close. We stood like that for a long, pregnant moment, our bodies shaking as our hysterics rang through the air. The noon sun was warm, but the breeze on our skin was refreshing, and I wanted nothing more than to let this moment stretch out into eternity.

Eventually, we calmed down. I wiped my eyes and looked up to see Taki-kun's eyes looking directly into mine.

"Hehehe...hm? Taki-kun? What are you doing?"

He didn't say anything; he just put one hand behind my neck and slowly pulled me in. The movement made my heart skip a beat. My head went blank as his scent grew stronger. I found myself closing my eyes, my blood racing as I waited for the inevitable resolution.

His lips on mine were inextricably soft. I felt every warm breath, every tremor that travelled throughout both his body and mine. The tears on both our faces mixed and fell to the ground, and I felt the last weights on my heart lifting and dissolving away. I'm not sure if it was eternity or a split second, but soon - too soon - we finally pulled apart, panting slightly and reddening in our cheeks.

Taki-kun found his voice first. "Hah...five years overdue," he breathed, a hint of his high school smugness returning.

I butted the side of his head with mine. "Eight years for me."

I felt him pause. "How...old are you, Mitsuha?" He froze. "I'm sorry. I mean-"

"No, I get it." We were three years apart when we switched bodies, after all. "I'm 25."

Taki-kun looked at me strangely. "You're older than me."

"Hm? Yes, I suppose I am. Is that weird?"

"...No. I'm just used to seeing you as younger than me, _maybe_ my age. Though, I suppose if you were younger than me three years before me, that'd make you the older than me."

I laughed gently at his obvious befuddlement. "Care to repeat that?"

Taki-kun looked away in good-natured embarrassment. "Ah, it's not important. You're here now. Time, distance, and death could not keep us apart."

Cheesy, but he's right. Nothing can keep us apart. "Mm. Never leave me again."

I felt his arms close on me even more tightly. "Never."

We stood like that for several minutes, locked in a tight embrace. I let my mind drift, drinking in the my surroundings, and searing this moment in my memory forever. I knew I had things to do today, but I willed this moment to last longer, dreading the call of human-

 _Bzzz._

-ity.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. The warmth passed and reality dragged me back to the real world.

"Damn. Excuse me, Taki-kun." I reluctantly extracted myself from his arms, fumbling through my dress and withdrawing my phone.

"Damn," I swore again. "I'm sorry, Taki-kun, I have a meeting I need to go to."

He nodded resignedly. "I understand. I actually have a job interview in-" he checked his watch "-half an hour."

We stood there for another few seconds, grasping hands and gazing into each other's eyes. Somehow, the idea of Taki-kun having graduated from high school - never mind university - was alien to me; it reminded me of the time we lost. I found myself having difficulty tearing away from his presence.

I cleared my throat. "U-Um...may I have your contact information?"

A sly, rueful smile. "I gave it to you eight years ago. You mean you don't have it?"

I gave him a light slap for that. " _Baka_. Just give it to me."

"Yeah, yeah. Here." Laughing, Taki-kun took my phone and entered his contact information. I took his phone and entered my own, feeling another thrill at bringing closure to my past.

" _Arigatou_." We returned phones and linked fingers as we walked back to the station. At the concourse, Taki-kun turned towards me.

"I suppose this is where we split."

"Mm." I didn't know what to say, so I didn't. Sometimes, you don't need to speak to express yourself.

"Tomorrow at seven?" I didn't need to ask what, or why.

"Of course. Where?"

"The restaurant?" Oh, the same restaurant that he - I - we worked at? I'd love to!

"Sounds good! Are you paying?" I finished with that jibe, knowing Taki-kun would be tapping deep into his pockets for two people at a five-star Italian restaurant; especially considering he's still job hunting and technically unemployed.

"Eh...I'll see if I can get Miki-san to pull some strings…" He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment again. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Hehe…It's a date, Taki-kun."

He looked up at me and smiled, outshining the fluorescent lights in the station. "It is, Mitsuha."

With that, he took my hand, and - without breaking eye contact - bowed and kissed it, before turning towards the other platform and walking away. I watched and waved until he turned the corner and went out of sight before making my own way to the platform.

For the last eight years, I've been looking for something. Something special, something personal - something forgotten. Despite being in the city, despite basking in the hustle and bustle of the metropolis lifestyle, I always carried this feeling of loss and emptiness.

"Not anymore," I whispered to myself. The spot where Taki-kun's lips brushed my skin still tingled from the contact, and I held that hand close to my heart. My time spent searching was finally over.

"Taki-kun…" This whole time…

 _I was searching for you!_


	3. Author's Notes

_Your Name_ ( _Kimi no Na wa_ ) is perhaps the best anime film and one of the best animated features I've seen (if you haven't seen it yet, go watch it right now. Leave this page and go watch it. Go. Seriously. It's really good). It's even secured a place on my top films in general (live action, animated, or otherwise), and it's perhaps the only "short" feature (compared to TV shows that have multiple dozens of episodes) where I've become so helplessly attached to the characters. I won't go too much into the actual premise; you can read what I've written on my website (located in my profile). I will say this much, though: I dislike the ending. Not because it's a bad ending; no, as a way to end a story it works very well, because it ties in to the themes of searching for a soulmate, dreaming, and the bittersweet sting of love and loss. I dislike the ending for a similar reason why I dislike the _Artemis Fowl_ ending: it's emotionally devastating. Elsewhere, I've commented on how I hate memory loss endings because they make the rest of the story feel like a waste of time at worst, and a sad reminiscence at best. This ending falls into the latter category, with it almost invalidating the adventures that Taki and Mitsuha had together while simultaneously proving their connection through _musubi_. This, combined with my restlessness towards the ending and my preference to see everything resolve to a happy ending, led to my writing of this fic (in general, this is how I cope with endings: writing my own to help bring closure to my own mind and heart). Part of the problem is the lack of really substantial, good fics out there for me to read, so go out and write some!

 **About this fic:**

This fic is an unashamedly happy, soppy reunification story. It follows immediately after the ending of the film, and is quintessentially just fluff. I originally planned to write this in the third person, but a few factors changed that. First and foremost, the film focuses on two specific characters. In fact, I don't think there's a single scene without significant screen time with one or both of the two protagonists, and we often hear them voicing their thoughts (to the audience, of course, and not in their world). As such, it made more sense to write in a first person perspective. That, and I'm more creative when pretending to be another person than I am when describing from a narrator's perspective.

Of course, the question comes to how to split up the storytelling. Originally, I had an idea of having the perspectives split between the two like how the film handled it, but it very quickly became messy without the ease of storytelling that comes with the film medium. Besides, I ended up favoring one character over the other in terms of time spent in their perspective, so that idea was quickly dropped. Instead, I decided to write a single story written from _both_ perspectives. Though Taki's part is some thousand words longer than Mitsuha's, I feel like in terms of character both were given ample opportunity to explore and develop into themselves without overshadowing the other, and it feels more complete coming from a dual-protagonist story.

At any rate, this is my fanfiction about _Your Name_. It was written to assuage the feels I developed from the ending of the film, and hopefully I'll be able to reconcile with the emotions it left me with now that I've finished this.

 **Updates:**

November 17, 2016: Changed some awkwardly phrased places. After careful consideration, decided to remove most uses of Japanese words. Expanded a little bit in certain places.

November 18, 2016: Found on Reddit a very plausible theory about ages. Originally had Mitsuha and Taki both of same age, Mitsuha having pursued a master's. Theory puts Mitsuha some two, three years older than Taki. Made Mitsuha a professional woman to reflect this.

January 5, 2017: Changes in diction, edited grammar. Adjusted flow.


End file.
